With heavy rimmed glasses, long sideburns, and crazy hair, Justin Pierre is hard to miss. But the frontman of Motion City Soundtrack has much more than crazy hair under his belt: he is the lead vocalist, lyricist, and backing guitar for Motion City Soundtrack, he is a short film maker, and he’s done guest vocals on some very awesome bands (Fall Out Boy, Metro Station, Grown Ups, and Limbeck). The band has made five albums; the first and the last one are not very well recognized but still a good listen. The middle three, Commit to This Memory (2005), Even If it Kills Me (2007), and My Dinosaur Life (2008), are the most reflective of Pierre‘s writing style and personal lyrics.
In Commit to This Memory, Pierre attempts to write both from his father’s point of view and his own. During a large part of his life he struggled with an alcohol addiction, reflected in the lyrics “The liquor store’s closed/ we were so close to scoring/ it hurts, it destroys ‘till it kills.” In Even If it Kills Me, Pierre was praised by music journalists as “the star of this album” and “refreshing, completely incapable of taking himself seriously.” My Dinosaur Life veers a little more pop than punk, and is reflective of Pierre’s lightening up after beating his addiction, yet it still has that geeky heartbreak vibe that he is known for.
Whether he‘s known for his hair (he once said, “It’s a complicated physics equation. Thirty percent physics, Sixty eight percent play dough.” ) or his power pop lyrics, he’s certainly an interesting frontman. When asked what’s next for MCS, Justin replied “tour, tour, tour.”
Fun Facts:
-Pierre had the thick-rimmed, Buddy Holly glasses long before it was ever "a thing."
-Justin has asthma, and uses his inhaler as a prop during live performances. Endearing, isn’t it?
-Also endearing, Pierre’s middle name is “Courtney.”
Sources:
Scene Point 2/20
http://www.scenepointblank.com/features/interviews/motion-city-soundtrack/
Wikipidia 2/20
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_City_Soundtrack
Last FM (Image) 2/20
http://www.last.fm/music/Motion+City+Soundtrack/+images/29695387
Tumblr (Image) 2/20
http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/joshua%20cain
Blogarts (Image) 2/20
http://blogs.artvoice.com/exitmusic/2010/07/19/warped-tour-2010-veterans-rookies-and-the-crawl-of-death/
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ReplyDeleteHe uses an inhaler as a prop!? That's so cool! But how does he do that, does he just carry it around with him? It's cool that he doesn't let a hardship (asthma) stop him from pursuing his dream.
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